What Insurers Like and Dread About GOP’s Plan to Replace Obamacare

While those cancellations caused a major political firestorm, the framework the House released prior to the recess could cause a loss of employer coverage of several times that number.

The plan would repeal the unpopular “Obamacare” fines on people who don’t carry health insurance. “Devastating for women. Cuts Medicaid & hurts Medicare”.

27% of people thought they would have more choices about how they got their health care, 23% believed they would have less choice and 43% thought they would have about the same choice.

The replacement bill scraps those conditions in favor of a system of tax credits aimed at shifting that punishing stick into a carrot.

The substitute penalty surcharge is so high that healthy people could opt out of coverage until they are able to move on to an employer’s plan.

The Republican Study Committee, a caucus of 172 House Republicans, was especially critical of the proposal.

In essence, House Speaker Paul Ryan (with the blessing of President Trump) has served up legislation that sort of replicates Obamacare but is substantially worse in every way that matters – it will result in fewer people covered, dole out less generous subsidies and screw over a lot of sick and low-income people. Four other senators, like Kentucky Republican Rand Paul, said the plan is “Obamacare-lite” and isn’t conservative enough. In the private insurance market, the burden will fall onto consumers and insurance companies (who in turn, will pass the costs to consumers). Some small-government purists in Congress (and elsewhere) hate the idea of tax credits for insurance on principle; but the way the credits are structured means moderates will be turned off by a plan that leaves so many people out in the cold.

It’s unclear how many Americans might lose insurance under the GOP repeal plan and how much the plan will cost.

Medicaid will also see big changes.

It wasn’t that long ago that Republicans mocked Democrats about the bumbling way they drafted the Affordable Care Act and the way in which they eventually passed the law. Elimination of the ACA’s Prevention and Public Health Fund will disproportionately harm low-income people and patients with chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease that will worsen the health of communities and facilitate the spread of infectious diseases.

Monday’s legislation would also defund Planned Parenthood by blocking Medicaid payments to certain providers that also perform abortions.

“I personally received over 600 emails stating opposition to this plan”, Tea Party Patriots President Jenny Beth Martin said in a statement. This would encourage states to improve the way Medicaid is delivered.

Missouri hospitals gave away $1.2 billion in care in 2015, according to the association. States could raise revenues themselves via tax hikes for the program or find funding elsewhere in their budgets.

Obamacare allowed the expansion of Medicaid, the insurance program for the poor.

Health Secretary Tom Price also talked up the proposal, calling it an “important first step” in a letter to key House Republicans. The House bill retains the basic structure of Obamacare, meaning that for conservatives who want a true free-market replacement, this new plan probably doesn’t go almost far enough.

Dr McDonough said the “irony of the substitute penalty is that it is far more costly and punitive than the so-called individual mandate”.

“We don’t know how many people would use this new tax credit, we don’t know how much it will cost, and we don’t know if this bill will make healthcare more affordable for Americans”, Lee said in a statement.

The workaround Republicans are now proposing to maintain coverage for pre-existing conditions is even more watered down.

Manhattan reportedly has 218,937 individuals who would be impacted.

But the bill repeals most of Obamacare’s taxes, including one on medical devices and another on indoor tanning services, which raises questions about how the bill will be paid for. Critics have renounced Republicans for initiating the ACA’s repeal without having a successor program prepared. “But the policy and practical goal should not be endlessly expanded entitlements”, they wrote.

Up until recently, all indications pointed to a major change to employer plans, which are used by almost half of Americans.

The credits would range from $2,000 a year for someone under age 30, rising to $4,000 for someone 60 or older.

The cost of the plan is not yet known, pending a score from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

LISA DESJARDINS: That’s right, in particular the tax credits.

President Trump touted the new legislation on Twitter Tuesday morning.